We are glad to share that as restrictions were eased and vaccination process speeded up many of EUPAP partners could continue their activities and are now ready to move on to the next stage of implementation.

A new EUPAP partner office opened in Lithuania

On the 25^th of September, a new EUPAP partner office was opened in Lithuania where patients with chronic diseases or other health problems were invited to participate in European Physical Activity on Prescription programme. During this project, healthcare specialists (doctor nutritionist, physiotherapist or other) will be meeting with their patients for a 30 min consultation to identify patient’s current physical activity status and to discuss opportunities on how to increase it depending on his current health state. After a consultation, a patient will be provided with several alternatives on how to improve his physical activity levels such as taking regular walks, using staircase instead of an elevator more often, going to gym, dancing etc. In addition to that, a body weight analysis will be conducted by a special device. After prescribing physical activity as a treatment a healthcare specialist together with a patient will agree on further ways of communication and re-meeting to review the progress of physical activity levels based on patient’s health status.

EUPAP project coordinator in Lithuania, Sandra Saboniene, was excited to share that „so far a new EUPAP office opening in Lithuania has received a lot of interest from our key targeted groups and patients are actively registering for a consultation with a certified specialist“.

An article about EUPAP project published in trimestral magazine „Portugal Social“

An article presenting EUPAP project and its benefits was published in the "Portugal Social" magazine. “Portugal Social” is a trimestral magazine, which is published under the scope of the Sports-friendly municipalities and is distributed among 180 municipalities in Portugal. (out of 308!) A full article publication can be found here.

Interview with Winfried Banzer from Germany's EUPAP team

In Spring, we interviewed Winfried Banzer, Professor of Sports Medicine at Goethe University and the main leader of the German EUPAP team, about their latest activities and achievements in implementing the Swedish PAP method in the region. We also asked him about the main challenges and difficulties they have when implementing those activities during the pandemic.

In the interview, the professor talks about their activities such as their work in setting up a prescriber network in and around Frankfurt, and providing them (doctors) with the scientific literature and material they need for their daily work. They also regularly communicate with their existing contacts in organized sports, academic and other professional groups as well as do training courses for students of Physiotherapy and Sport Science. It will help prepare competent professionals and ensure continuity of PAP method. Also, the team actively participated in organizing the Sports, Medicine and Health Summit 2021, where Winfried gave a speech on physical activity on prescription.

Read full interview here.